


Setting Up A Circus (Again)

by Centeris2



Category: Star Stable
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 22:24:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16206899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/pseuds/Centeris2
Summary: A new Ydris, a new Circus, a new mystery that Rebecca does not appreciate.(6/6/18 update fic)(follows/connected to An Exercise in Perception)





	Setting Up A Circus (Again)

Help with a horse wandering around was nothing new to Rebecca, with the number of horses on Jorvik it was natural to have a few wandering loose every day. Usually people knew their horse was missing though, so when Maya said she didn’t recognize the horse it made Rebecca curious. With all the stables Maya worked at it seemed impossible for her to not know every horse on the island.

A beautifully colored North Swedish mare greeted Rebecca and Midnightwarrior at the dock by Moorland, Rebecca didn’t realize North Swedish could come in such a striking silver combination.

“Well aren’t you a pretty lady,” Rebecca muttered, glancing down at the box next to the horse. Was that a circus box? It looked like the ones Ydris used. A rival circus perhaps?

“Property of the AMAZING YDRIS! If found, please return to Nilmer’s Highland along with any cargo and you shall be rewarded handsomely.” the note on the horse said, answering Rebecca’s question. 

So Ydris had gotten a horse. Understandable, it was Jorvik after all. 

The mare did not require any cookies to persuade her to back to Nilmer’s Highland, and Rebecca and Midnightwarrior escorted the draft mare up to the circus.

“Special delivery for- YDRIS!?” Rebecca’s announcing call was turned into a cry of confusion when she saw Ydris.

“The circus!? Jester-? What happened to you?!” Rebecca demanded, staring at the man who had to be Ydris. 

But… it couldn’t be Ydris. She couldn’t see his magic aura, he looked twenty, maybe even thirty, years younger, and he didn’t have his five leaf clover. And the circus was gone, as was the trailer, and the Jester was nowhere in sight. 

But no one else had eyes like that, even if the fleeting glimpses of pink were no longer shining from his eyes. Well, many people had heterochromatic eyes, but Ydris was the only person on Jorvik she had seen with it. Aside from Evergray, but his seemed to be a product of too much time in Pandoria. 

But Ydris didn’t answer her, instead he struck a dramatic pose, hand out with the other on his forehead.

“Stop! Do not tell me who you are. The Amazing Ydris knows all!” he cried, his voice younger, less raspy. It was bolder, flashier somehow. It was the voice a ringmaster used when addressing his audience. Ydris had always been a showy ringmaster, but this was… different. It worried Rebecca. Her worry grew as he introduced himself and took four guesses to get her name.

“Ydris, what is going on?” Rebecca asked seriously, but Ydris did not give her a serious answer. Instead Ydris launched into an enthusiastic speech about his circus and entertaining the world. Rebecca politely listened, knowing Ydris wasn’t one for straight answers on a good day, and whatever was going on was going to make him even less direct in his answers. 

Rebecca found herself once more introduced to The Jester, now given the name Xin, along with the mare named Zee. Once again Rebecca helped set up a circus tent, a sign, and a trailer. It took significantly less time, much to her relief, but she was still baffled. A new tent, a new Ydris, a new Jester. There was even a race now, but it was that Rebecca saw inside that made her stomach clench.

In the stands, already waiting, watching, were figures in familiar cloaks. The druids had always kept an eye on Ydris, present at his circus, but now Rebecca was anxious by their presence in the tent.

Returning to Ydris to report her completion of the race she found herself grabbing the magic ticket in her pocket. It was still there, she felt the magic as a cold tingle in her hand. She had not imagined Ydris giving her the magic ticket long ago. The physical proof was there in her pocket, secure in her fist. But she no longer needed the magic of the ticket to enter the circus tent, no ticket was mentioned at all.

Ydris looked up at her on Midnightwarrior as he would a potential customer, another person he could entice into buying a ticket for his circus. He didn’t recognize her as his student. Rebecca took a deep breath and dismounted, walking up to him. Was he taller? She couldn’t tell.

“Yes, little dove?” he asked, a bit surprised that she ignored his personal space, almost standing close enough to touch him. She closed her eyes and leaned in, her nose brushed against his suit as she sniffed, making him freeze.

He smelled like cologne and freshly starched clothes. 

The Ydris she knew smelled like must, dust, tea, aromatic herbs, alcohol, and Ed Field’s wood sauce. But the most noticeable smell missing was the smell of magic. It used to hang around him, clinging to his clothes and radiating from his being. It had taken her some time to figure out what she was smelling, it would be like trying to describe the smell of strawberries to someone who had never been exposed to any sort of berry. 

“Has my greatness coaxed a dove into a cage?” Ydris asked in a teasing voice, lifting up her face from his chest. He froze, his heart stopping when he saw the fury in her eyes as she glared up at him.

“What did the druids do?” she hissed, knowing he couldn’t answer her. He gulped, bewildered, and stood still as Rebecca took a step back and looked at the Jester.

“Pleasure to finally get your name, Xin,” Rebecca said with a pleasant smile. She noted Xin still had his magic, but now he was silenced. Who made him wear that mask, and did it keep him from speaking? 

“I look forward to meeting your friends, Ydris,” Rebecca said as she mounted up, giving Ydris the same pleasant smile she had given Xin. Ydris nodded dumbly, not knowing what else to do or say. He was still processing the rage on Rebecca’s face earlier.

“Be a good girl, Zee!” the mare snorted at Rebecca’s comment, clearly having no intention of behaving if it could be avoided. 

Rebecca’s friendly expression disappeared as she rode away. She didn’t know how, but she was sure the druids were behind this. First they seemed to be rewriting the memories of the soul riders, now Ydris. How long would it be before they got to her and changed her memories? Rebecca decided to be wary of any North Swedish Horses she received from the druids. It might be rude to look a gift horse in a mouth but she knew to beware of druids, even those bearing gifts. Especially those with the gift of a horse. 

Rebecca did not think it was a coincidence that it was a North Swedish horse Ydris suddenly had, not in a place like Jorvik, not when it came to magic. Not when North Swedish horses were the favored breed of the druids.


End file.
